I knew as soon as I read the first paragraph it was the East Area Rapist (the use of "Golden State Killer" threw me at first). When he was terrifying the Sacramento area, I was a little girl who lived with her two teenaged sisters and good looking mom in Citrus Heights. My grandfather brought over a shotgun for mom to keep in the house. One night, she woke up in the middle of the night for some reason, grabbed the shotgun and when she went into the kitchen, saw a man in a ski mask crouched down outside our big dining room window. She cocked the shotgun, he heard heard it, then took off. She called the police and they found that the window, that had a crank to open it, was almost completely removed. He raped a woman about 8 miles away an hour or so later that same night. After that, my grandfather brought over a trained guard dog that lived in our back yard. To this day I still get chills thinking about it. It was a very scary time in Sacramento.

To zero in on a victim he often entered the home beforehand when no one was there, learning the layout, studying family pictures, and memorizing names. Victims received hang-up or disturbing phone calls before and after they were attacked. He disabled porch lights and unlocked windows. He emptied bullets from guns. He hid shoelaces or rope under cushions to use as ligatures. These maneuvers gave him a crucial advantage because when you woke from a deep sleep to the blinding flashlight and ski-masked presence, he was always a stranger to you, but you were not to him.

I've read almost every book by Robert Ressler & John Douglas. The Scott Glen character from Silence Of The Lambs was based on Douglas. From what I've gleaned from those I can tell you that most likely the perpetrator:

1. Is dead.2. Incarcerated.3. Had a stroke and is an invalid.4. Retired from killing.

Number 4 is probably the most least likely. These guys seldom stop or find that they've had enough to satisfy them. As they grow in their crimes they perfect their modus operandi and get better and better. Something doesn't work the first time they will evaluate what went wrong and why and make a better plan. The other reason 4 is probably unlikely is eventually these individuals get to a point that they think they'll never get caught, and at some point they will get sloppy or make a big mistake. The Zodiac Killer is one of the few that for all intent and purposes "Seems to have gotten away with it".

On a lighter note after reading through the article and checking the sketches I think I've come up with the most likely suspect...

Find the EAR/ONS site she talked about. Lots of chilling info, including a recording of his voice.

You probably already thought of this (or have done so already!) but I think you should share your experience on that board. It's interesting how "the Kid" brought up the geographical points to her, so I wonder if adding a new "possible targeted area" (where you lived), may shed new light?

I grew up in Wichita during the BTK murders, so I am strangely interested in serial killers.

Not-so-cool story sis, my neighbor told me that BTK was looking for my house (we lived about a half mile from the Oteros). I was five. In his defense, he was too, and probably didn't know what BTK meant. I did, although I had to look up "Bind" in the dictionary.

The article gave me a random thought; I've even forwarded my question to a retired Sheriff's Lieutenant that I know; he founded our county's CSI lab 20 years ago.

Would anyone have an issue if we took a DNA sample from every. single. person. that dies? Either in the ER, or at home, or at the funeral home -- wherever. If you no longer have a heartbeat, we take a cheek swab and it gets entered into the CA and FBI DNA databases. Why? Think of how many unsolved cases might be closed. Sure, the guy or gal didn't get his comeuppance in this life, and I'll leave all discussion about whether or not they'll be "punished" in the afterlife to others.

Since the person is deceased, there's no 4th or 5th Amendment violations that I can think of, although IANAL.

But, I'm smart enough to admit I'm dumb about a lot of things and don't see every issue from every angle. So, Farkers that are smarter than me -- what possible objection could people have to this idea? Think of being able to tell families of victims "You can rest easy, he's dead."

Also, save some kind of cash on having cold-case squads not chasing dead suspects.

Find the EAR/ONS site she talked about. Lots of chilling info, including a recording of his voice.

You probably already thought of this (or have done so already!) but I think you should share your experience on that board. It's interesting how "the Kid" brought up the geographical points to her, so I wonder if adding a new "possible targeted area" (where you lived), may shed new light?

I shared mine on the A&E board after I saw an episode of "Cold Case Files" about him a couple years ago. I think I may have shared it there too, not sure, its been a while. I probably did though. Finding out he'd graduated to murder freaked me out and sent me on a net search frenzy. I was a little girl asleep in bed when it happened. I mostly remember my very strong mother being a jittery mess for weeks afterward, barely sleeping and sitting up all night with a shotgun in her arms. Tomorrow when I am in front of a computer (on my phone right now) I am going to check to see if I did.

dramboxf:The article gave me a random thought; I've even forwarded my question to a retired Sheriff's Lieutenant that I know; he founded our county's CSI lab 20 years ago.

Would anyone have an issue if we took a DNA sample from every. single. person. that dies? Either in the ER, or at home, or at the funeral home -- wherever. If you no longer have a heartbeat, we take a cheek swab and it gets entered into the CA and FBI DNA databases. Why? Think of how many unsolved cases might be closed. Sure, the guy or gal didn't get his comeuppance in this life, and I'll leave all discussion about whether or not they'll be "punished" in the afterlife to others.

Since the person is deceased, there's no 4th or 5th Amendment violations that I can think of, although IANAL.

But, I'm smart enough to admit I'm dumb about a lot of things and don't see every issue from every angle. So, Farkers that are smarter than me -- what possible objection could people have to this idea? Think of being able to tell families of victims "You can rest easy, he's dead."

Also, save some kind of cash on having cold-case squads not chasing dead suspects.

Ignoring all other potential legal issues, establishing that a newly deceased individual committed a previously unsolved murder would rob police departments and prosecutors of the opportunity to potentially railroad an innocent individual for vindictive or petty reasons at some future time.

Dimensio:Ignoring all other potential legal issues, establishing that a newly deceased individual committed a previously unsolved murder would rob police departments and prosecutors of the opportunity to potentially railroad an innocent individual for vindictive or petty reasons at some future time.

Not just murder. Rape, arson, armed robbery...lots of potential open cases could be slammed shut.

50 rapes, 10 murders, no arrests. Long Island serial killer: 10 murders, no leads. Green River Killer: 48 murders and they only got him when technology improved. BTK: missed the attention and basically stupided himself to jail. Any number of serial killers in the trucking industry, roaming around.

dramboxf:The article gave me a random thought; I've even forwarded my question to a retired Sheriff's Lieutenant that I know; he founded our county's CSI lab 20 years ago.

Would anyone have an issue if we took a DNA sample from every. single. person. that dies? Either in the ER, or at home, or at the funeral home -- wherever. If you no longer have a heartbeat, we take a cheek swab and it gets entered into the CA and FBI DNA databases. Why? Think of how many unsolved cases might be closed. Sure, the guy or gal didn't get his comeuppance in this life, and I'll leave all discussion about whether or not they'll be "punished" in the afterlife to others.

Since the person is deceased, there's no 4th or 5th Amendment violations that I can think of, although IANAL.

But, I'm smart enough to admit I'm dumb about a lot of things and don't see every issue from every angle. So, Farkers that are smarter than me -- what possible objection could people have to this idea? Think of being able to tell families of victims "You can rest easy, he's dead."

Also, save some kind of cash on having cold-case squads not chasing dead suspects.

I can see one issue, a murderer dies, the DNA matches. The family of the victims want some financial settlement from the murderers family. So the people that had nothing to do with the crimes and most likely didn't benefit from them end up paying for it. Picture a wife that's just lost a husband finding out a) he's a murdering fark and b) that retirement money that she needed to live is suddenly going to go away.

FARK rebel soldier:The obvious objection is next of kin's right to do whatever with the body but I wouldn't care.

That's not entirely true. I can't stuff my dead mother and mount her on the mantel. If it's part of the embalming process and proper chain of custody is kept... just saying, I think it's worth a discussion somewhere. I think the big question now is manpower. Just how many people die in a given day in say, NYC or LA?

pedobearapproved:I can see one issue, a murderer dies, the DNA matches. The family of the victims want some financial settlement from the murderers family. So the people that had nothing to do with the crimes and most likely didn't benefit from them end up paying for it. Picture a wife that's just lost a husband finding out a) he's a murdering fark and b) that retirement money that she needed to live is suddenly going to go away.

We need a lawyer to sort that question out. We just need to put something in the law that says you can't do that. In other words, if you die before you're caught, survivors have no right to sue unless it can be proven that anyone who benefited financially as a result of the death (inheritance) was also directly involved in the crime in question. And that the deceased killer could never have been a "person of interest" or something.

whither_apophis:50 rapes, 10 murders, no arrests. Long Island serial killer: 10 murders, no leads. Green River Killer: 48 murders and they only got him when technology improved. BTK: missed the attention and basically stupided himself to jail. Any number of serial killers in the trucking industry, roaming around.

Not quite as tidy as CSI makes out.

There used to be a website that had a US map, and had a very good list of all open/unsolved and active serial killers listed on it. Basically you could see the areas they were operating in. I haven't seen anything like that since.

freetomato:I shared mine on the A&E board after I saw an episode of "Cold Case Files" about him a couple years ago. I think I may have shared it there too, not sure, its been a while. I probably did though. Finding out he'd graduated to murder freaked me out and sent me on a net search frenzy. I was a little girl asleep in bed when it happened. I mostly remember my very strong mother being a jittery mess for weeks afterward, barely sleeping and sitting up all night with a shotgun in her arms. Tomorrow when I am in front of a computer (on my phone right now) I am going to check to see if I did.

Someone commented on the article some websites, and this one was listed seeking any witnesses to that stuff. Check it out if you haven't!

Well, at least this case was impetus for a DNA database from the CA prison population. Not sure (and not of a mind to research it now) how many states do that now. I'd be ok with it being nationwide. It could free many innocents, and clear up many old cases.

Where IS this bastard?

By coincidence, my uncle is a retired Vallejo CA cop who worked a Zodiac crime. He was obsessed with the case and has theories that have been quoted by authors on the subject.

whither_apophis:50 rapes, 10 murders, no arrests. Long Island serial killer: 10 murders, no leads. Green River Killer: 48 murders and they only got him when technology improved. BTK: missed the attention and basically stupided himself to jail. Any number of serial killers in the trucking industry, roaming around.

Not quite as tidy as CSI makes out.

Only because local police refuse to buy computers with enhance buttons.

freetomato:Well, at least this case was impetus for a DNA database from the CA prison population. Not sure (and not of a mind to research it now) how many states do that now. I'd be ok with it being nationwide. It could free many innocents, and clear up many old cases.

Where IS this bastard?

By coincidence, my uncle is a retired Vallejo CA cop who worked a Zodiac crime. He was obsessed with the case and has theories that have been quoted by authors on the subject.

Ignoring all other potential legal issues, establishing that a newly deceased individual committed a previously unsolved murder would rob police departments and prosecutors of the opportunity to potentially railroad an innocent individual for vindictive or petty reasons at some future time.